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vertical ballbearing rail — Parallax Forums

vertical ballbearing rail

trendtrend Posts: 112
edited 2004-11-01 14:22 in Robotics
Hello again [noparse]:)[/noparse]

Got a fabrication question·for you'll this time...

I have been using a rail (like out of a server case) for attaching an object
that needs to go up and down ~40 inches (I had to weld 2 of the rails
together and do some magic..) the object attaches to a chain and then a
sprocket at each end then a motor at the top.······ I used the rail out of a
server because I need a very low profile rail

Basically, I think this is a crappy execution of what I had in
mind(basically because of the weld.. and the object on the rail will snag
sometimes)...

So I am trying to find a very low profile rail that is ~35-40 inches long.
I found some on mcmaster carr, but they are pretty expensive..
Do you'll have any other suggestions on places that I could purchase this
from? (granted I might need to keep ordering more and more.. so it cannot be
a single auction on ebay[noparse]:)[/noparse]..

what I found on mcmaster carr was:
http://www.mcmaster.com/
look up item
6004K11

bottom 2 sections

any help would be great, because I honestly feel that these prices are very
inflatted.

thanks!
Lee

Comments

  • allanlane5allanlane5 Posts: 3,815
    edited 2004-10-29 13:42
    Hmm, sorry to rain on your parade, but $100 to $300 for this does not seem really 'expensive' for what you get. These are rails, with integral ball-bearings, which need to take some load. Thus they must be machined to relatively close tolerances -- thus the cost.
  • DaveGDaveG Posts: 84
    edited 2004-10-29 20:42
    I noticed that the description in McMaster-Carr says the 6004K11 unit is not rated for vertical mounting. However it still
    may be okay for a lightly loaded system.

    BTW, you will be hard pressed to find an easier or quicker source than McMaster-Carr. They are a fine supplier.

    Dave G
  • trendtrend Posts: 112
    edited 2004-10-29 21:59
    Yeah, they have everything.. but the items in the past I wanted from them, I always found them a lot cheaper elsewhere.. So I was just hoping for the same here..

    The thing is, these products from mcmaster are very high quality and have a high load capacity.. I don't really need a high capacity at all.. So I was hoping there was other solutions out there.

    I had just hoped someone had experience with finding cheaper rails.

    thanks for you'lls input!

    Lee
  • Dave PatonDave Paton Posts: 285
    edited 2004-10-30 16:51
    You might try surfing eBay. I've gotten a lot of ball bearing drawer slides that are in the 30-40" range for pretty cheap. You could also build something with some aluminium C channel. I've done both with great success.

    -dave

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  • trendtrend Posts: 112
    edited 2004-10-30 17:04
    Can you explain building a rail with aluminum C channel? where do you get the c channel? and how do you make the actual main rail?

    thanks! Lee
  • LarryLarry Posts: 212
    edited 2004-10-30 17:56
    google "hobby cnc". It'll keep you busy for a couple days.
    Look at the pictures on this site :

    www.crankorgan.com/

    Larry

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  • Dave PatonDave Paton Posts: 285
    edited 2004-11-01 14:22
    Basically, you use a pair of small pieces of C channel to capture a piece of plate Aluminium. The tricky part is making sure the C-rail stays straight and true on both sides. I did one once where I used another piece of large c-rail to hold the two smaller ones in alignment, and that worked pretty well. There are lots of options. I'll see if I can make up a drawing this week, but no promises.

    -dave

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    This is not a sig. This is a duck. Quack.
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